VBA2C Birth Announcement! Welcome baby Kai Alexander

Today's birth announcement is shared with permission by our labor doula, Tara.

"I met Christian and Kris early in her pregnancy. Christian was hoping to have a vaginal birth of her third child after having two cesarean births (VBA2C). She knew she would need a strong support team to achieve this goal. While VBA2C is not common in SW FL, thanks to moms like Christian, we are showing parents in our community it is possible.

One of the silver linings of the pandemic is that I now have the opportunity to meet more frequently with parents via zoom. Christian took advantage of this extra support. We were able to practice pain coping skills and get to know each other better and build our trust in each other. Near the end of her pregnancy she also took hypnobirthing classes to help her prepare and relax.

Throughout her pregnancy Christian did the work required to achieve her goal, but she also kept an open mind about birth. We can do many things to prepare for birth, but ultimately, we can not control the outcome. Christian knew this and prepared accordingly.

As her due date approached not only was Christian’s daughter getting extremely excited for her baby brother to arrive, Christian was too! Every time I checked up on her, Christian was enthusiastic for labor to start. Her excitement was contagious. Christian knew that the pressure to induce her labor would be intense once she reached her due date. The weekend before the big day she took matters into her own hands and start natural induction methods. Castor oil proved the most effective. In less than 24 hours contractions began!

In the early morning hours, Christian found that her voice was an effective coping tool. The plan was to labor at home as long possible, but knowing her children might be alarmed by the sounds coming from mom, she decided to go to the hospital sooner than expected. Another great skill of Christian throughout this journey was finding the next best solution when things didn’t go as planned.

At the hospital Christian progressed through labor with few interventions. Shortly before midnight Kai made his arrival!

Humor goes a long way sometimes, and Kris joked throughout pregnancy that Kai’s full name would be Kai “Rona”. Christian was not having it!

Please join me in welcoming Kai Alexander to the Mindful Birth family!"

My doula best,

Tara